‘Frustrated’ teenager died after he took extra pills at Fabric, inquest is told

A TEENAGER who died after taking ecstasy at Fabric nightclub took extra pills because he was “frustrated” at not feeling the effects, an inquest heard.

Ryan Browne had fatal levels of the drug – also known as MDMA – in his system after a night out with a group of six friends over summer.

Poplar Coroner’s Court heard the “naive drug user” had tablets hidden in his socks and bought more inside the venue.

The 18-year-old died in hospital on June 25 after having two seizures and going into cardiac arrest in the club’s medical room.

Ben Hole, a friend of the student, said Mr Browne, of St Albans, Hertfordshire, had been among a smaller group of friends who had picked up the drugs from a dealer near Luton Sixth-form College.

He said the friends had decided to go to Fabric, which is currently closed pending an appeal, because “Fabric was always known to us as the club to go to in London if you wanted to take ecstasy, because of the music and feedback from other people”.

He added: “It’s always been known as that club because of the music that’s played. I was under the impression you could buy drugs inside Fabric, but we also said you never do that. We were naive and thought you only buy things off people you know.”

He said the group had been searched by security but they had not been told to remove their shoes.

Mr Hole said he began to feel the effects but Mr Browne did not.

“Ryan began to become quite frustrated so he decided to take another one,” he said.

Later Mr Browne was spotted talking to someone near the DJ booth, where an “exchange” took place, according to Mr Hole.

The court heard Mr Browne then began to look unwell and a bouncer told his friends to take him to the medical room.

Esther Finn, who had worked for Fabric as a medic for more than five years, said his lips were blue and he had been speaking in “incoherent mumbling”.

A toxicology report found the level of MDMA in his blood was 2.48 microgrammes per millilitre – above the upper recreational limit of 0.35mg per millilitre.

The club’s general manager, Luke Laws, told the coroner the club was near its 1,500 capacity that night and there were dozens of security staff working, along with three trained medics.

She said: “This was recreational drug use gone wrong. I am convinced that Fabric’s medial care was excellent and I don’t hear that very often with nightclubs. The drugs in his system were enough to kill a habituated user, and he was far from habituated.”

The inquest into the death of Jack Crossley, who died after taking drugs at Fabric on August 6, will take place on January 4.